Thunder
by Sweetdeath04
Summary: Post Hand of Thrawn. Karrde didn't think she was scared of anything until the storm came. A Karrde and Shada fic 'cause there aren't enough!
1. Prologue: Crashing Down

**Disclaimer: **They belong to George Lucas and Timothy Zahn. If they were mine a lot of stuff would be very different. Don't sue!

**A.N. **_I'm back with my two favourite characters! I should probably finish one of my other fics before I start this one, but I posted it on the and it got good reviews so it's up here now too!_

_Please read and Review!!!_

_**Thunder**_

**Prologue: Crashing Down**

The three year old, dark haired girl wrapped her arms tighter around the baby in her arms as the rumbles from outside grew louder. She closed her eyes to dull the flash of light and fire that would accompany the blast. She saw black, then red, as the sky outside was illuminated.

Papa hadn't boarded up those windows yet. Why was he bothering? It wouldn't stop _them_. _They_ knew that the people of Emberlene were hiding in terror while the planet was bombarded.

Why was this happening?

Questions plagued Shada D'ukal that should never have entered the mind of a girl her age.

"Shada, love, stay away from the wall," her father said as he began boarding another window. He didn't need to say why. Shada knew that if a bomb fell near their once secure house, the wall would bury her. She shuffled on her knees across the floor, Therran still in her arms. He had wailed for the first part of the assault, but he had now cried himself out.

Shada was too afraid to cry. The bombs were getting closer.

She rocked Therran, whispering gently to him through dry lips, comforting herself more than him. Her father moved to another window. Just as he was about to hold up the board to block the view of pain and terror from outside and the non-existent light from inside, he froze.

The board dropped as he rushed over to his children, pulling them close to his body. No words were needed. His embrace said it all. _I love you…_

Belatedly, Shada realised that he was trying to shield them, for the bomb wasn't going to land _near_ the house. It was going to hit them straight on!

Walls crumbled and fell inwards. What remained of the roof came crashing down. Shada squeezed her eyes shut against the storm of fire and stone. Something heavy hit her and she filled her lungs with air to scream-

………

**A.N. **_Right, I know it was short, but that's just the prologue. Chapter One will be up once I get my laptop back. My mother has it at her work 'cause she blew up their computer…_

_Please Review!!!_

**_Sweetdeath04_**


	2. Part One: Fireworks Display

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything or anyone in the Star Wars universe. If I did there would be a lot more of Talon and Shada!

**A.N.**_ Okay, excuse time! I'm aware that I haven't updated in over a year! I had started writing the next chapter but then the pen drive it was on got broke and everything went downhill from there. It's a wee bit difficult to get motivated after that. And my mate, __**CrazyPyroMan**__, borrowed my Hand of Thrawn books in September. He's at university so I won't get Vision of the Future back until next month. Depressing!_

_Anyways, I decided to get started writing again! Thanks to everyone whose reviewed so far! I'd be grateful to hear everyone else's thoughts and comments!_

_Enjoy!_

**Part One: Fireworks Display**

Shada D'ukal was lying in her bunk, staring at the metal ceiling of her quarters in the _Wild Karrde_, not as a three year old girl, but as a thirty-eight year old woman. A storm was raging over Coruscant and the thunder echoed throughout the ship. It was this storm that had prompted her long buried memories to rise to the surface of her sleeping mind.

Another rattle of thunder made her flinch involuntarily and curl deeper into her blankets. Forcing her muscles to relax, she mentally sighed. Only children were scared of storms, she told herself even though she knew it was a blatant lie. She was too old to hide under the blankets until it went away.

Her subconsciousness disagreed.

Every time she tried to burrow in to the world of peaceful sleep, another crash, louder than the previous, would startle her back out again.

Shada D'ukal was not a woman who liked to be frightened. If anyone knew of her secret fear the reputation she had gained on the _Wild Karrde_ would most likely be shot down in flames. So with no feasible way of getting any sleep that didn't involve the use of drugs or ear plugs, she decided to do some work.

Work was how Shada had kept her mind from wandering back to _that night_ when she worked with Mazzic. And the job description Karrde had given her compared to that of Mazzic's was exceedingly more interesting. She and Karrde were to meet another of his numerous contacts tomorrow to inform his that Karrde's organisation was going legit- not a prospect that many of his former contacts had taken well. Shada hoped that by learning enough about the man form Karrde's extensive collection of information they could disclose the information in a way that would avoid unnecessary bloodshed.

Not that that had worked the last time...

But first she needed something to clear her mind from sleep and dreams.

* * *

All she had wanted was a nice warm mug of kaff from the mess hall. It had seemed like such a simple task at the time. Nothing that she would need a weapon for. Working with Karrde was leaving her too complacent.

How she found herself on the Bridge, she would blame on curiosity mixed with paranoia.

It was the middle of the night and with the ship docked there was no reason for any member of the crew, exhausted from pushing the ship to meet contacts, to be on the Bridge. There was no reason at all for the hallways to be lit with a silvery glow coming from the Bridge. No reason at all.

That was why Shada was so concerned to discover that there was indeed someone on the Bridge, or, rather, standing on the lowered boarding ramp just outside the aforementioned room.

So here she was, attempting to hide in shadows whilst wearing a white robe (once again, she blamed complacency) and catch a glimpse of the person who, she assumed, was on guard duty for his companions. It was certainly a plausible scenario- that a group of Karrde's numerous enemies would attempt to raid the ship whilst it was docked.

And then there was the matter of the crew.

Admittedly, she hadn't been officially apart of Karrde's crew for a very long time, but she had been welcomed into the close knit group like an old friend in a way she had never experienced with her eight years working with Mazzic and his crew. And, whether she liked it or not, they weren't just Karrde's people anymore. They were her people too.

And that was the problem, really. There was a big red button placed less than three feet away from her that would alert the crew to intruders. But, of course, that would also alert the intruders to the fact that their presence there was no longer a secret and then, naturally, they would attack the first person they saw. Sure, _she_ could take them out, but she couldn't guarantee that the rest of the crew could if they were attacked unawares.

Well, she thought, she could always go through the ship and take them on one at a time starting with the man in front of her.

There was another rumble of thunder followed by a flash of lightening that illuminated the man's figure. He was tall, much taller than her, with a well toned, muscular and really, quite handsome body. Nevertheless, he looked quite agile for his size.

No problem. She had taken on worse and come out of it unscathed.

Just as she moved forward to attack there was another crash and lightening lit up the profile of the man just a little more. She stopped and relaxed as she recognised the man's face. Talon Karrde.

His shirt was soaked and clinging to his chest as he stared up at the sky, seemingly unaware of the storm that surrounded him. Shada frowned at the sight- didn't he realise that he was going to catch his death if he stayed out there all night?

She walked towards the ramp, calling out to make her presence known, "You know, I'd appreciate it if I didn't have to meet the rest of your contacts alone, just because you've gotten the flu from standing in the rain all night."

Karrde turned and smiled at his second-in-command as she pulled her white robe tighter to guard herself from the ice cold rain that was pelting down around them.

"Shada," he greeted her, "have you ever witnessed a fireworks display?"

An odd question, but then, thought Shada, she was getting used to those. Karrde rarely asked any question directly. With him, everything took time and he could usually worm information one wasn't particularly inclined to give, out of a person without them ever realising the significance of what they had disclosed.

Shada would have liked to have thought that she was getting rather good at answering these sorts of questions, but she wasn't inclined to delude herself. "Not that I remember," she replied hesitantly. "Perhaps when I was very young." Fireworks were for celebratory occasions, something her home world had precious few of.

Karrde placed a hand on the small of her back, guiding her closer to himself. "Watch," he said, pointing up, "how the sky fills with light. It always reminds me of fireworks," he stated as lightening filled the sky once again. Something in the distance exploded and Shada's muscles tensed up. Once again she had to force them to relax and she was sure that the man beside her had just gained another bit of information from her without her consent.

"It makes _me_ think," she began dryly, "of the natural laws of physics."

Talon looked at her inquiringly, as thunder rolled through the atmosphere.

"I'm sure it states somewhere in that oversized data library of yours that electricity is attracted to metal." She flinched again as the lightening struck something much closer to them. There was a bang as it exploded, emitting white hot sparks.

"You're point being," Karrde began, almost sheepishly, "that standing on a metal boarding ramp in the middle of a lightening storm might not be the best idea. Point taken," he concluded in a pitch slightly higher than was normal. "And with the storm so close," he guided Shada back up the ramp, "it might just be a good time to head back inside."

When the boarding ramp was closed and they were once again safe with the ship's shields up, the pair stood in the bridge, dripping wet, neither sure what to say. Shada had no business to ask for her boss's real reason for being up at this ungodly hour- that was, if the fireworks excuse was indeed an excuse, she wasn't entirely sure- and he had probably had at least an inkling of her fear of storms. Her behaviour had more than likely given her away.

And so Shada was left pondering what on earth to say. That was, until she was hit in the face with an emergency blanket Karrde had retrieved from one of the overhead lockers. Shada looked at it, then up at Karrde blankly.

Karrde, who was wrapping a similar blanket around himself, mimicked, "I'd appreciate it if I didn't have to meet the rest of my contacts alone, just because you've gotten the flu from standing in the rain all night."

For the first time that night, Shada realised that she was shivering. She was soaked through and the only thing covering her modesty was the thickness of the robe which was letting the water from it form puddles at her feet. She wrapped the blanket around herself gratefully. As she clutched it to herself she found Karrde's hand on her back once again.

"My dear Shada, if you're not in a rush to get back to bed, would you care to accompany me to the mess hall for a mug of kaff?"

She nodded the affirmative all the while thinking wryly that a mug of kaff was all she had wanted in the first place.

**A.N. **_You know, I was supposed to finish the story with this chapter but I don't think it worked! Still another part to go…_

_You know, the first time I wrote this bit it only lasted two hundred words… What happened?_

_Right, anyway! I swear that I'll update sooner next time! Please review and promote the Karrde and Shada love! I have a C2 dedicated to them now! __**The Smuggler and the Shadowguard**__! Please take a look!_

_Enough shameless promoting! Please review!_

_**Sweetdeath04**_


	3. Part Two: Thunder

**Disclaimer:** Star Wars does not belong to me!

**A.N. **_I have a feeling that this chapter is going to be the hardest to write. Oh well. _

_Thanks goes to __**Pandora of Ithilien**__, my one and only reviewer! I swear, you are the best! Am I really that bad at writing, folks?_

_Enough with that! Enjoy!_

**Part Two: Thunder**

Shada took a hesitant sip of the steaming kaff that was placed in front of her then followed it with a longer, more content one. She vaguely wondered in the back of her mind, when and where Karrde had acquired the information on just how she liked her kaff.

Karrde placed himself across the table from his second-in-command, smiling as she seemed to relax. He had been disappointed when Shada had appeared outside of the ship. Not because he didn't want her company- in fact, he was grateful that she was there, no- it was when he had placed his hand on her back that he had been disappointed. Because he could feel her tense up.

He had felt much better when he had realised that her tensing up actually had nothing to do with the human contact. When she had unofficially joined the crew, a year ago, now that he thought about it, she had been so guarded- almost prickly. If one had surprised her with a touch on the arm, the individual was likely to get his fingers caught in the shell that she would surround herself with. The crew of the _Wild Karrde_, however, had been persistent. They recognised the worth of their new second-in-command and they had welcomed her, slowly breaking the constraints she had locked herself in.

Soon, she would be as raucous as the rest of the crew.

"What were you doing up at this hour anyway?" Karrde asked. "If I remember correctly, it was _you_ who was so adamant that the crew got a decent nights sleep and some shore leave." He smirked at her, "Not following your own orders?"

Shada frowned, "I was trained to wake up at the slightest sound of trouble, Karrde," she stated, determined to be as truthful as possible, "and that storm _is_ pretty loud. Can you really expect me to sleep through something like that?" She could barely hear the storm now. Karrde had brought her to the innermost part of the ship and the rolls of thunder were now muffled by the layers of durasteel that separated them from the night outside.

"No, I suppose not," Karrde continued the conversation, and Shada noted that his voice drowned out the very last remnants of the thunder. Was it possible, she wondered, that Karrde had brought her here for that very reason?

They talked for well over an hour about the most insignificant things and Shada found that the tension she had felt earlier that night was easing away from her. Talon Karrde was someone she was able to open up to, mostly without her realising it. She could have told him her deepest, darkest secrets and it wouldn't have mattered for somehow she knew that even if this endeavour to provide intelligence to the New Republic and the Empire simultaneously was to fail, and even if Karrde was to go back to being a smuggler and information broker to the paying public, he would never, _ever_, sell any information on _her_.

There was a voice in the back of her mind telling her to stop being so naïve, but it sounded suspiciously like one of her Mistryl teachers, so she paid it no heed.

For Karrde was a good man, she knew. Each of his crew had a story to tell, besides herself, that, no matter how you looked at it, Karrde was the hero who had taken them in. He had placed a roof over each of their heads, fed them, clothed them and taught them as if they were his own children. He stood along side them as though they were his brothers. He respected each and every one of them. Yes, they were still smugglers at heart, Shada knew that. But she couldn't help but be drawn in by the friendship, respect and _trust_ these people put in their captain. And now, they were putting their trust in her too.

And just as she had relaxed enough to completely forget about the storm that continued to rage outside, there was a _bang_. She could _feel_ the ship's shielding being struck!

Karrde was on his feet in an instant and Shada was following him as he sprinted towards the boarding ramp, on their way passing fellow bleary eyed crewmen who had been awoken by the blow.

It probably wasn't the safest thing to do, but they lowered the boarding ramp nonetheless. The building nearest them had obviously been hit by a stray bolt of lightening and the top few floors were now rubble, raining down on the ship below.

Karrde swore. The screams of pain and terror could be heard radiating from the building. Shada didn't say a word. She was in a daze. Blood pounded in her ears as she stepped forward.

She took another step, then another followed by another. She couldn't think straight. All she knew was that there were people there- innocent people who could be dying! She had to do _something_!

She was about to take another step when strong arms caught her around the waist. She struggled as Karrde tried, as gently as possible, to pull her back to the safety of the ship. "There's nothing we can do, Shada. The emergency crews will be here in a minute- it's too dangerous for us to go out there when the building's unstable."

She was shaking. Karrde had never seen her like this. She was, quite literally, trembling in his arms. Finally, she stepped backwards, further into his embrace, and allowed him to take her inside.

Balig and Aves were standing in the doorway to the Bridge. "Chief-" began Balig, but Karrde cut him off.

"Tell the rest of the crew to stay inside. The building beside us was hit by the lightening and you're liable to be hit by falling rubble," he explained as Aves caught his eye and nodded warily towards Shada, a look of utmost concern spreading across his features. Karrde shook his head warningly and they took that as their cue to leave.

Shada, on the other hand, had pulled herself slightly more together now that she couldn't hear the pained screams outside. Her breathing wasn't as erratic and her eyes had lost the look of utter terror that they had held only moments ago. She stood with her back straight and fists clenched at her sides. To someone who didn't know her, she would have looked perfectly calm.

Karrde, however, did know her. He knew that the calm, controlled and totally _blank_ look on her face was a mask. He had seen it before, months ago, when she had first joined the crew. It had taken time and persistence for him to gain her trust enough to drop it, little by little. Now, he couldn't help but wonder if all his work had been undone.

He knew that the expression she wore was nothing but a mask. But he didn't know what lay behind it. He wasn't sure he wanted to. After all, he could guess.

Pain, despair and, worst of all, fear.

Pain and despair were emotions he knew she was familiar with. She had been banished from her homeland, never to see her friends and family again. But fear…

To be perfectly honest, it had never occurred to him that _she_, who was always so strong and so steady, who could stare death right in the face and stick out her tongue at it, could fear anything.

And it scared him that she could.

* * *

They were back in the mess hall again. The crew had slowly returned to the warmth of their bunks, leaving their Captain and his Second to themselves. Karrde could only imagine the rumours that would be flying around in the morning…

The lady that these rumours would undoubtedly include, was sitting opposite him. When he spoke to her, she didn't look _at_ him, she looked _through_ him. It unnerved him.

Shada had barely scraped up even a semblance of coherent thought. She hadn't been expecting what she saw, or rather, heard, outside. The blasts, the brief flashes of light, the screams… She had to remember that she was on board the _Wild Karrde_, not on Emberlene. She had just about managed to resist a breakdown and so long as she remembered where she was and that she was _safe_, she would be fine.

Karrde was watching her anxiously. He was worried, that much was obvious, and Shada could tell that he wasn't bluffing.

Her eyes were no longer as dead as they had been a moment ago, noted Talon. He wanted to know what, exactly, had happened and he _needed _to know if she would be alright. He just hoped that she trusted him enough right now to tell him.

"Shada," he began, cursing that he couldn't think of a softer, easier way to ask when he needed to the most. "Shada, what happened?"

The woman in question blinked. Didn't he see what had happened? Wasn't he out there as well? Why was he asking such an obvious question? "Th… The building beside us- it was stru-" Karrde cut off her stuttering.

"No Shada," he began, taking one of the hands that she had clasped on the table in front of her in his own, bigger hands. "No, what happened _before_?"

She looked down at their hands clasped together. She had wanted to tell someone, deep down, for so long now. And here was a man sitting in front of her who wanted to know. Not because he was a cold-hearted smuggler, not because he was an information broker who would sell her life story for a price. Here was a man, Talon Karrde, who actually _cared_.

"Emberlene was bombarded thirty five years ago," she said, not taking her eyes off their hands, "and I know now that we deserved it but…" she finally looked up at him imploringly. "But some of us were innocent too."

Karrde felt the hand that was clasped in his move ever so slightly, then grip one of his so that it was _she _who was holding _his_ hand.

And she told him. She told him everything- from how it just wasn't _fair_ that her mother died bringing her little brother into the world, just so that he could die a few months later, to how she had eventually wound up joining the shadow guard.

By the time she was finished, it was Karrde who was wearing the mask. He didn't want to insult her by showing her the pity that he felt for her, but it didn't seem appropriate to praise her for her commitment to what she believed in. He was at a total loss.

"Shada…" he said, his voice hoarse, "Shada, I can't promise you that you'll always be safe. I can't promise you that this organisation will always be legitimate. All I can say is that as long as I am in command here, you will always have a home onboard this ship."

She squeezed his hand tightly. "Thank you," she whispered, forcing back tears of gratefulness.

"Thank you."

**A.N. **_dies That was so hard to write! I think I ended up deleting more than I actually have here because it was so OOC! _

_That being said, I hope Shada wasn't too OOC- she's difficult to write. And Karrde, come to think of it._

_Well, I hope you liked it! Please drop me a line and tell me what you thought, good or bad! Next up is the epilogue!_

_**Sweetdeath04**_


	4. Epilogue: Healing

**Disclaimer**: It's not mine.

**A.N. **_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story right from the start, and especially __**Pandora of Ithilien **__and __**Lyra Waterflame**__ who reviewed that last chapter! _

_I__'m awful at writing Karrde and Shada in an actual relationship, so I'll let you take from the epilogue whatever you wish._

_Enjoy!_

**Epilogue: Healing**

Shada D'ukal was lying on her bunk, staring at the grey ceiling of her quarters on the _Wild Karrde_. Almost three years had passed since she had first experienced a thunder storm whilst serving on this particular ship, and she had faced more than one since. The _Karrde_ was currently docked on Mon Calamari.

She didn't even know that Mon Calamari ever _had_ thunder storms.

Yes, the reason behind her lack of sleep was indeed the raging storm outside. She had dreamed, woken, tossed, turned and generally failed in all aspects of getting back to sleep. Granted, things had definitely gotten better since Talon Karrde had first encountered her during one such storm- she no longer jumped in fear at every crash of thunder from outside, at least. Still, it didn't make sleeping an joyful experience.

That's when the comm beside her bed buzzed.

"Shada here," she spoke sharply into it. She could guess who was on the other end.

"My dear Shada, did I wake you?" She was right. The voice was tinny and unclear, but it was Karrde nonetheless.

Shada rolled her eyes at the question, as a particularly loud rumble of thunder echoed outside. "Guess," she said dryly.

"Shada, you know I work only with solid information. I don't guess." There was a pause, "Care to join me for some kaff in my quarters?"

The scowl that had set itself into Shada's features began to lift into a smirk as she inquired, almost slyly, "Since when have you had a kaff machine in your quarters?"

"Oh, you know. It's a recent addition."

"One of the perks of being the captain, I suppose."

Karrde chucked melodically, "Quite right, Shada, my love."

He waited for a reply to his invitation but there was only a moments silence, followed by the click of the other comm link being turned off. He smiled and watched the door expectantly.

Across the hall, Shada had left down the comm link and slipped through the door of her own quarters silently. She knocked lightly on the door of Talon Karrde and let herself in once the lock was released.

**The End**

**A.N. **_Well, I'll let you make up your own mind about that! I hope you all liked it! Please let me know what you thought! _

_Thanks for reading!_

_**Sweetdeath04**_


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